| | Pennington has roughest NFL day of young career
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Chad Pennington tried several times to
insert his dollar bill into the beverage machine in the interview
room, and the money just kept coming back at him.
|  | | Chad Pennington turned the ball over four times during Sunday's loss. |
Frustration was the story of his day.
Pennington had been playing near-perfect football for more than
a month. He had the best passer rating in the NFL, led the Jets to
eight wins in 10 games and was brilliant in his playoff debut a
week earlier.
He was on top of the world -- a 26-year-old quarterback who began
the season as the backup for the New York Jets and is now drawing
comparisons to Hall of Famer Joe Montana.
Oakland changed all that in a hurry Sunday, frustrating
Pennington into four turnovers in the Raiders' 30-10 AFC playoff
win.
"It's one of those days,'' Pennington said. "I can't explain
it. That's why it's so frustrating. I didn't feel like I was myself
out there and I don't know why.''
The quarterback's collapse came at the worst possible time.
The Jets hadn't committed a turnover in their last three games,
including a 41-0 victory over Indianapolis in the wild-card round
Jan. 4. New York was among the hottest teams in football, and
Pennington was the main reason why.
"It's not Chad's fault,'' said receiver Laveranues Coles, who
had 30 of his team's 183 receiving yards. "It's not any individual
person's fault. We've got to take this together. Chad played a
great game. Don't ask me anything to badmouth Chad. I'm not going
to do it.''
Pennington was rattled for the first time in months, and was
totally ineffective in the second half.
He lost a fumble in the first quarter, and fumbled again in the
fourth. He was picked off in the third by Tory James -- his first
interception since the Jets' 26-20 Monday night loss to the Raiders
on Dec. 2. He threw another pick early in the fourth. With two
interceptions, he matched his total from his 10 previous games.
Pennington was also sacked four times, showing just how
vulnerable he is when his offensive line protects poorly.
There were several other times he nearly threw interceptions,
too.
His passes were a little off most of the day -- some throws were
too high, others were well short of his targets. Four-time Pro Bowl
cornerback Charles Woodson deflected three passes in his first game
back from a leg injury, including one in the end zone.
"I don't know who made Chad Pennington into Joe Namath. He's
not,'' Raiders linebacker Eric Barton said. "Yeah, he got rattled.
He got a lot of hats put on him today.''
Pennington finished 21-of-47 passing for 183 yards and a
quarterback rating of 44.9.
He came in as the NFL's highest-rated passer at 104.2, with a
league-leading completion percentage of 68.9. Pennington
demonstrated great poise in helping the Jets recover from a 1-4
start.
"He probably will tell you he didn't have one of his better
days,'' coach Herman Edwards said. "There were a lot of people who
didn't have their better days.''
Minutes before the clock expired, Edwards spoke to Pennington:
"I told him, 'I'm proud of you. You're learning a lesson and
it's something you'll grow from.'''
Pennington's amazing season ended in familiar territory for the
Jets. New York was eliminated in the wild-card round here last
January -- and has played in Oakland four times in 53 weeks.
"I'm proud of this team,'' Pennington said. "I didn't play my
'A' game today, but everyone rallied around me.''
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